Sturdy Lover (Eijiro Kirishima x OC)

Chapter- 5 Coffee

🫐🦈

Kirishima jogged out of his truck. "I cannot believe I'm going to be late! So unmanly!" As he shot around the corner, his heart began to race.

Standing on the corner of the street was Ahri. Her nose was buried down inside of her purse as she rooted around for something, but he was almost glad she was distracted because it gave him time to catch his breath and shove his boyish nerves deep down inside.

He thought he was in the clear, so he called out casually, "Hey Ahri!" His voice cracked when he said her name, and his entire face turned bright red from embarrassment.

Her head popped up, and the biggest smile he had ever seen spread across her face. "Kirishima, hey!"

He scratched the back of his neck and apologized, "I am so sorry I'm late. There was an accident, and I didn't realize it was going to be that long of a hold up."

Ahri glanced down at her small gold watch. "Honey, you still have 15 minutes before we were supposed to meet?"

"D-did you just call me honey?" he asked praying it wasn't a slip of the tongue.

Ahri's ears flushed bright pink as her eyes shot away from his. She nibbled on her lip shyly. "Sorry about that. I-umm-I've been around kids all day. Calling them honey is easier than trying to decifer the twins apart."

"Oh...so you didn't mean to call me that," he said under his breath feeling a bit down, but he quickly swept it under the rug because he didn't want to ruin the evening. He chuckled, "it's no big deal! My mom calls me all sorts of things that aren't near as sweet as honey, so I completely understand."

Ahri peeked up, and a small wrinkle formed between her brows. When Kirishima hooked his thumb toward the coffee shop and crowed, "You ready to go in?" she felt as though something was off.

"Yeah sure." He turned to lead her in, but she placed a hand on his forearm.

"What's wrong, Ahri?" he asked as he turned to face her square on.

She canted her head to the side and studied his face for a long moment before she said softly, "You look upset."

Kirishima's heart may have stopped beating. It was scary. It was scary to let someone look too closely lest they see who was beneath the smile. He wasn't explosive like Bakugo nor was he able to hide behind flirtatious pickup lines like Kaminari. All he had was his smile, and right now those piercing indigo eyes were seeing right through him.

"Wh-what? I'm not upset," he lied atrociously.

Ahri's nose crinkled the tiniest bit. "Sweetpea, you're terrible at lying."

Kirishima dragged his hands up and down his face as he tried to disguise his blush at her calling him another adorable name.

"Ugh! I know. I'm sorry! My friends tried to teach me, but I seriously suck at it."

"I'm glad you're an atrocious liar."

He peaked through his fingers and asked, "Really?"

She nodded aggressively which made him drop his hands and give her a lopsided smile. "I like people who are honest. I think it's one of the most attractive qualities a person can have."

"I consider myself an honest man, most of the time." You just make me really nervous, and I want you to like me. So I'm trying hard not to wear my heart on my sleeve. I don't want you to see through me just to find out you don't like me...

"I think you're a wonderful man, Red. Actually, I have something for you!" Ahri rummaged around in her purse for a second until she pulled out a sugar cookie dusted in red sprinkles. "Here."